Office furniture



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W. J. McGRATH. OFPIGE FURNITURE.

Patented Mar. 27, 1894.

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W. J.VMoG-RATH., OFFICE FURNITURE.

No. 517,122. Patented Mar. 27, 1894.

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WITNESSES.

WVILLIAM J. MOGRATH, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

OFFICE FURNITURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 517,122, dated March 27, 1894.

- Application filed July 11, 1892. Serial No. 439.722. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that LWILLIAM J. McGRATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Office Furniture; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to office furniture, and the invention consists in an article of furniture constructed and combined substantially as shown anddescribed and particularlypointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of my new and improved article of furniture, and Fig.2 is a transverse section thereof on line at, m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail of the locking mechanism for the revolving case, and Fig. 4. an enlarged cross section showing the groove for the sliding'flexible cover or curtain that comes down to cover the case. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cabinet with everything omitted from its top, and Fig. 6 is a cross section horizontally on a line corresponding to y, y, Fig. 5.

In this article of furniture, which is designed more especially for railway offices, although it may be used in other offices as well, I have kept in view the needs of an ofiice of this kind and have combined what I consider all the essential elements thereof,which comprise storing room for letter and other books, blanks of different kinds, a wringer and place for keeping the cloths for taking letter-press copies, astand for the letter press, and table or shelf room to lay papers, the whole being compassed in a single article of manufacture and occupying the least amount of space practicable in an article which possesses all these advantages and uses. To the end that such an article may be constructed,

I employ a suitable frame, which consists es- It is customary in railroad offices to use cloths for takingletter-press copies, and these are usually kept in a tank or vessel containing water, in which the cloths are kept wet and ready to be wrung out by means of the wringer D. I therefore secure a tank or receptacleE to and beneath the extension I) of the top and cover, and this tank in turn is provided with its own separate cover 6 at one or botlrsides of the wringer D, as may be preferred, so that the said cover 6 can be raised and the cloths taken out and wrung and the water will drop back into said tank, when the cover is restored. Said tank is provided with suitable valved outlets e in its bottom.

Upon the opposite end or side of the cover from the wringer is placed the letter-press F, and there is room between the said letterpress and the wringer D on top of the cover B to place papers, books, and the like, to be used as an ordinary table would be. Beneath the said cover B there is a sliding board or shelf G, which is adapted to be drawn out upon either side of the cabinet as may be desired, and which affords additional shelf room when one is engaged in taking letterpress copies or the like, if such additional room be needed. This shelf is here shown as provided with parallel grooves, g, on its bottom, and pins or projections g in the board beneath engage in said grooves and limit the movement of the shelf from side to side, one pin serving as the limit when it moves in one direction, and the other as a limit in the opposite direction. Any other sufficient means for stopping the shelf in either direction may be adopted. Beneath the said shelf and be tween the sides A of the frame, is a cross board H, and the said shelf rests upon this cross board and slides between it and the top of the table or cover B.

K is a revolving case which has spindles, is, provided with bearings in the bottom 0 and the cross board H, respectively. This case is square, and hence is made sufiiciently smaller than the inside space of the cabinet to allow the case to revolve on its pivots and not touch at its corners. This revolving case is designed to provide room for letter and other books at one side, and to this endI provide the case with suitable files or compartments k, as seen in elevation in Fig. 1, and upon the opposite side of the said case are a number of drawers, 70 as seen in Fig. 2, in which anything may be kept that is adapted to be placed therein,such as letter files, blank forms, and the like.

At the rear, and between the files or compartments k and the drawers k there is an open space or well subdivided by a partition Wall 70 ex tended across the case and leaving a free space between said division wall and the rear of said files and drawers. Along the front of the sides of the said case, upon the inside thereof, are vertical grooves, m, and above the said files and said drawers,andbetween said parts and the cross board l-I, there is likewise a space in which the flexible sliding curtains M, N, are adapted to travel. These curtains ride over suitable sheaves, m, so as to be easily moved, and their edges are confined in the grooves orchannels m. When the said flexible curtains are moved up and back they drop into the well at the rear, as shown, for example, in Fig. 2, and when they are drawn forward the limit of their movement is in the grooves m to the bottom of the case. Both curtains stay Where they are put by their own gravity.

At one side of the frame A is a pivoted latch (1, extending through the side of the frame and engaging a catch 71: on the case K. When the latch is lifted the case is free to be revolved, and when down it holds the case against revolving.

It will be noticed that upon opposite sides of the cabinet or frame are vertical panels S,

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which extend inward so as to slightly overlap the respective edges of the fronts of the case when it is at rest. The cabinet or frame is made just large enough to allow the case to revolve therein, and is closed at its ends A and the panels S, at the corners partly close the open sides as shown, and the case is contained and revolved Wholly within this cab- The frameitself is in a sense complete without the top 13, especially so far as the rotation of the case is concerned, and this case is provided with flexible covers on opposite sides adapted each to drop into the well or space in the center of the case provided for this purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what i I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The new. article of furniture herein described, consisting of the substantially rectangular frame constructed with closed ends and partly closed sides and flat top and bottom, the revolving case pivoted centrally in the top and bottom of said frame and having compartments on opposite sides, and an open space between said compartments extending the full depth of the case, and flexible covers over the front of said compartments adapted to slide into said open space, substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification this 2Sth day of June, 1892.

WILLIAM J. MCGRATII.

Witnesses:

H. T. FISHER, NELLIE L. MoLANE. 

